In the Face of Tragedy

What’s a Christian to do in the face of evil and tragedy? How do we hold on to faith and hope when all around us looks grim and hopeless?

In last week’s eNews, we saw that God allows the “wheat” (the good) and the “tares” (the bad) to grow together until the harvest time. The apostle Paul knew that there were times in the Christian life when we must face that harsh reality, and he had a few things to say to the church at Rome about it.

There are two wonderful promises here that can serve us well in such times. First, we are promised that “all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” This is not a promise that only good things will come our way, nor that everything that happens in our lives is God’s will. Indeed, we suffer the consequences of our own sin as well as the sin of others, and that is never God’s will.

But the promise is that the Lord will weave even the bad things into His good purposes. We may not see where it all is going, but we can trust the one who makes the promise!

The second amazing promise is that NOTHING “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” No matter how grim the circumstances, no matter how spectacular our failure, no matter what evil may come upon us, our Lord will never turn His back on us. His love will never leave us!

Knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God and that He will, in good time, bring all things together for His loving purpose, can give us the assurance that we can get through whatever might come our way. Trust the promises!